The First Fruits Are Counted as Uncircumcised

Time and again we see that the most God-fearing in a flock of brothers—when they first begin to serve in the church—make a lot of mistakes which cause unrest and trouble that can last for a long time. They did the best they could, but their best was less than perfect. In His great grace and wisdom, God foresaw this, and in Lev. 19:23, He gives us instructions on how to deal with it.

“When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites had planted good trees, and a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. Nevertheless, the fruit from the first three years was to be counted as uncircumcised, and the trees themselves counted as uncircumcised. What was God’s intention here? Before Israel took possession of the land, many ungodly nations had inhabited it. For many generations, the ground had produced grain and wine for these ungodly people. When Israel planted trees in that same ground, these trees drew nourishment from the dung of the ungodly, which was an abomination to the Lord. Three years were to pass before God permitted anyone to eat the fruit of these trees.

When an ungodly person is saved, after having borne fruit unto death for a long time, they change their way of life. They become zealous for God and start to serve. The first fruits of their ministry certainly bring joy, but these fruits should still be counted as uncircumcised. For example, several brothers can meddle in each other’s work, and then there is conflict. All of them are zealous for God, but the fruit of their labor during the first years is not to be eaten—it is to be counted as uncircumcised. Their ground has borne bad fruit for years, so they are not able to produce edible fruit immediately. There is no doubt that they are fundamentally good trees, but the first fruits of their ministry do not produce perfect results.

For three years Israel had to sit by and watch while their trees bore fruit that they could not eat. That was a great test of their patience. If the trees could have thought like people think, they would have had lowly thoughts about themselves when they saw that year after year their fruit was not worthy to be eaten. God does the same with His servants, so that they can learn to have lowly thoughts about themselves and can learn to bear the yoke in their youth.

We can only stand in awe and say of all God’s work and all His deeds: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Rom. 7:25.